Raspberry Pi launches its own low-cost USB hub

The Raspberry Pi Plc. has an introduction streak. The Touch Display 2 is followed by the company's first USB hub. The "Raspberry Pi USB 3 Hub", priced at 12 US dollars, does nothing out of the ordinary with its handful of ports: a USB-A port establishes the connection to the host device, while devices such as a keyboard and mouse can be connected to four other USB-A ports.

All ports transfer 5 Gbit/s (USB 3.2 Gen 1, formerly known as USB 3.0) – with the connection to the host as a potential bottleneck if multiple data carriers are connected. An additional USB-C port is used exclusively for power supply, but is optional. A power supply unit provides up to 15 watts (5 volts, 3 amps) for connected devices.

At its heart is a USB controller from Infineon's CYUSB3304 series. It is designed to do better what many low-cost hubs fail to do: ensure a high level of reliability on a wide range of devices without connection interruptions.

"Best USB 3.0 hub"

Raspi head Eben Upton writes about the announcement:

"Why are we designing our own hub? Well, we were frustrated with the quality and price of hubs available online. You either pay a lot of money for a beautifully designed and reliable product that works well with a wide range of hosts and peripherals, or you save up and get something that is less compatible, or unreliable, or ugly, or all of the above. Sometimes you spend a lot of money and still get a crappy product.

We felt like we were caught in a race to the bottom, where bad quality crowds out good quality and marketplaces like Amazon end up being dominated by the cheapest product that can even come close to deserving the name 'hub'.

[...]

We believe it's the best USB 3.0 hub on the market today."

The manufacturer has tested its own hub with all Raspi single-board computers that have a USB-A port. In principle, however, the hub is compatible with all possible systems. On older Raspi DIY computers, the hub is limited to USB 2.0 speed.

Raspberry Pi Plc. promises that the hub will be manufactured until at least January 2030. The first retailers in Germany are listing it for just under 14 euros, such as Botland.

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